Kohl’s receives prestigious sustainability award from government
For the 12th year in a row, Kohl’s Corp. is being recognized as a leader in energy conservation.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Energy Star program has presented the department store retailer with the 2023 Partner of the Year Award for Sustained Excellence, which is the program’s highest honor and is reserved for participants demonstrating outstanding leadership, year over year.
The EPA recognizes companies with the Sustained Excellence Award if they have already received Energy Star Partner of the Year recognition for a minimum of two consecutive years and have gone above and beyond the criteria needed to qualify for recognition.
Kohl’s is being recognized for a variety of energy-saving initiatives, including:
- Completing more than 100 interior and exterior LED retrofit projects at Kohl’s locations in 2022, which are projected to save approximately 21 million kWh (equivalent to nearly 3,000 homes’ electricity use for one year). By the end of 2025, Kohl’s will have LED lighting installed at all of its properties.
- Replacing HVAC units at more than 50 stores in 2022, which are projected to save more than 2.4M kWh.
- Hosting more than 160 solar arrays around the country totaling more than 200,000 solar panels for more than 51 MW of solar energy installed. Kohl’s is also in the process of deploying rooftop solar on 15 store locations across Arizona and Illinois, which will increase Kohl’s installed solar capacity by 10.4%, to a total of nearly 57 MW. Once completed, the total projected annual electricity generated by Kohl's solar system will be equivalent to the annual average electricity use of more than approximately 6,000 homes.
- Installing more than 375 electric vehicle charging spots spread across 170 locations since 2011, which have provided more than 105,000 charging sessions per year to our customers and associates. According to Kohl’s, it’s charging stations power more than 809,000 miles of driving and have saved more than 36,000 gallons of gasoline annually.
[Read more: Kohl’s hits climate reduction goal early; details EV, solar, LED plans]
As of November 2022, Kohl’s has earned Energy Star certification at more than 1,000 locations. With more than 50 of Kohl’s buildings earning certification in 2022, the company also became an executive member of Certification Nation.
Of the more than 160 companies named a 2023 Partner of the Year for Sustained Excellence, Kohl’s is one of only four retailers on the Energy Management list and one of 37 companies to have been named to the list for 10 or more consecutive years.
Other sustainability honors
Kohl’s has also been included on the Dow Jones Sustainability North America Index (DJSI) by S&P Global’s Corporate Sustainability Assessment (CSA) for the last five years and been recognized for its climate change response at the non-profit CDP’s Leadership Level for the last four years.
As an active member of the EPA’s Green Power Partnership since 2006, Kohl’s has been named to EPA’s Green Power Top 30 Retail list since 2014 and is ranked fourth among corporate users for the total number of solar installations and 11th for total installed on-site solar capacity by Solar Energy Industries Association. The company was also named one of the world’s most ethical companies by the Ethisphere Institute for the fifth consecutive year.